Books commemorate Ma's mayorship

By Mo Yan-chih / STAFF REPORTER

Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou squats as he signs a copy of a set of two books about his two terms as mayor at a book launch in Taipei yesterday.

PHOTO: CNA

A month before finishing his eight-year term in office as Taipei mayor, Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday detailed his municipal achievements and argued that he had outperformed his mayoral predecessor, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).

To sum up the municipal developments under Ma's administration over the past eight years, the Taipei City government yesterday published a set of two books under the title To Be Reborn Through the Carrot and Stick Approach.

Ma shared his pride in policies on garbage disposal and river dredging, and said he never disregarded Chen's contributions.

"He [Chen] tried to implement the policy of paying for garbage disposal by the bag, but it didn't work out... But he only served for four years. Of course we have achieved more, but I never tried to write off his contributions," Ma said at the book-release ceremony at Taipei City Hall.

Among his administration's achievements, such as the introduction of the MRT EasyCard, a decrease in garbage disposal and the construction of the MRT, Ma said, five projects received worldwide recognition by winning international awards, including the Asia Waste Management Excellence Award in 2001 and the Intelligent Community Award this year, as well as being crowned the city with the world's largest Wi-Fi network.

Commenting on the controversy surrounding the policy on renovating old markets, Ma said that although it was a difficult process, of the 18 market renovation projects in Taipei, only six were confronted with serious problems.

"We welcome criticism, but please also give us credit for our successes. Don't say that I did nothing but jog and swim for the past eight years. It's unfair to all the city's hard-working staff," he added.

Ma was choked with sobs when he talked about coming to the end of his term, and said that he expected the next mayor to continue with developments that have not yet been completed, such as the leveling of sidewalks and dredging the Tamsui River.

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